Blade-sharpening machine



1,365,696. A 1, Patanted Jan. 18, 1921.

. 5k 9 10 a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

C. C. KING. BLADE SHARPENING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, I912. RENEWED JUNE I7, 1920.

WITNESSES:

C. C. KING.

BLADE SHARPENING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16. 1912. RENEWED JUNE 1.7.1920.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

s SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N H WITNESSES.- v INVENTOR.

C. C. KING.

BLADE SHARPENING MACHINE.

APPLICATION men SEPT. I6, 1912. RENEWED JUNE 11,1920.

1,365,696, Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- W! -u h 16 :1 mm

WITNESSES:

CARL C. KING, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BLADE-SHARPENING MACHINE.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

Application filed September 16, 1912, Serial No. 720,664. Renewed June17, 1920.. Serial No. 389,777.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL C. KING, a citizen of the United States,residing at the Technolog Chambers, 8 Irvington street, in the city 0Boston, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Blade-Sharpening Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

The objects and purposes of my invention are to provide a machine forsharpening razor blades and like articles (especially safety razorblades of the detachable type) in quantities and at a very low cost, anda machine which will both grind and finish blades ready for use with ahigh degree of uniformity of depth of grinding and honing and offinishingor stropping, so that but little attention in this respect isrequired of the operator or attendantof the machine, and, further, toprovide a machinewhich will sharpen a large number of blades within aday; this being accomplished by passing the blades and the carriersholding them along the rolls or other sharpening surfaces in an endlesschain while the sharpening rolls are in motion; so that blades placed inthe holders or carriers are passed along the sharpening rolls, when thecarrier is swung to bring the blade into contact with each of thesharpening rolls until sharpened, and

then the jaws of the blade carrier are automatically opened and theblades taken out or dropped out.

It will be seen that a machine of very great capacity may thus bedevised, the capacity depending largely upon the length of thesharpening rolls and the speeds at which they are rotated.

While I show a machine adapted to grind,- hone and strop new blades, itis apparent that'by providing only for stropping, or for honing andstropping, or other suitable combination of abrading wheels, a machinemay be used for resharpening used blades.

Other variations of the amount and charactor of the grinding andfinishing rolls may be made to adapt the machine to work of other kindswithoutdeparting from the scope of myinvention.

Referring now to the drawings:

Figure 1 is an end view of the machine with one of the sprocket wheelsaround which the chain runs shown in section as if.

out along the line 1-1 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 2 is a detail view, part in section, of the preferable form of myblade holder or carrier as it would appear removed from the connectinglinks of the chain.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the machine, the connecting belts andmotor not being shown, and the stand or supporting frame being butpartly shown. In this view, a part of the guide rails or ways for thechain of blade carriers to run on is removed, so as to Show theconstruction of the teeth and connecting links of the chain, and-a partof the end frame supporting the ways and the oscillating rails is brokenaway to show the drlilving pulleys and ends of the sharpening ro s.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view, part in section, of a portion of the guiderails or ways, and of one of the blade carriers and the connecting linksof the chain, taken along the line 44 of Fig. 5, and looking in thedirection of the arrows. This view shows the j awopenin and closinglevers 34, and the character 0 .trippers 35 employed to'throw the armsor levers of the blade carriers to rotate the sleeve 9 and cam 27 of theblade carrier to open or close the jaws 31, 33, for inserting orremoving a blade.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a section of two blade holders of thechain of blade carriers, as the chain would appear when running on itsunder guide rails or ways were the upper ways removed.

Like reference characters denote similar parts throughout theaccompanying drawings.

In carrying out my invention, I preferably employ sharpening rolls 1,arranged in pairs, which rolls are spaced from each other and rotate inopposite directions, and an endless chain of pivoted blade carriers.Where a machine is adapted for grinding, honing and stropping, as in thecase of sharpening new blades, I preferably form the rolls 1 in sectionsof, first, a coarse grinding face, second, a smooth or fine grindingface, third, a honing face, and, fourth, a finishing or stropping face.Where machines are to be used for resharpening blades, 9.

honing and a stropping section, or a strop-- tially parallel with theaxes of the rolls and to swingthe carriers so as to bring a blade intocontact with the faces of the several rolls, I form an endless chain 2,of the blade carriers 3 (shown in detail in Fig. 2), and

employ a pair of sprocket wheels 4, driven by a worm gear 17, aroundwhich sprockets the chain travels. This chain consists of a tooth link6, for engaging the ways to guide the' carriers alon a straight line,and for engaging the teetfi of the sprocket wheels to drive the chain,and a pivot link 10, about which pivot the blade carrier is adapted toswing in a plane substantially at right angles to the line of travel ofthe chain.

, Extending between the sprocket wheels 4,

. I provide guide rails or ways 5, in which the movement to the bladecarrier, 3, causing a blade held by the jaws of the carrier to pressagainst one roll and then the other in alternation. The spring 8 isadapted to cause the car; rierto press the blade yieldingly-i.'e., togive a springy contact of the blade against the sharpening rolls.

It is, apparent that, instead of the waved or curved rails, foroscillating the blade carriers, a rocker bar, with a cam to swing it,might be used without departing from the scope of my invention.

I preferably provide the chain of blade carriers, with rollers 14, so asto lessen the frictiomand to rovide for a better moves ment of thechainralong the guide rails or ways 5 and 7, and around the sprocketwheels 4.

The machineis, of course, provided with a suitable stand or lower frame,18, and may be built with upper or end frames 13, supporting bearingsfor the sharpening rolls 1, counter shafts 22, s ocket wheels 4 and theways 5 and 7, and preferably employ a stand or lower frame having aplacefor a motor 19, and having bearings for the main shaft 20, from whichshaft belts 21 lead to pulleys 36 on countershafts 22, journaled in theupper frames 13. From the center counter shaft,-a chain or belt is runto a second shaft 23, carrying the worm of the worm gear 17, whichdrives the sprocket .wheel 4. Other suitable'means may be used to drivethe sprocket, such as miter gears and a cross shaft, or a plurality ofspur gears.

From the upper and lower counter shafts, 22, belts are run to pulleys36, on the shafts 37, for rotating the sharpening rolls, as in dicatedin Fig. 1. To provide for varying the angle of grinding or sharpeningblades;

that is, the angle at which the blades strike the periphery of thesharpening rolls, I employ means, 24, for adjusting the rolls, the saidmeans consisting of members in which the shafts are journaled, and ascrew for moving the members back and forth.

In Fig. 2 I show the detail construction of what may be called mypreferred form of automatically openin and closing blade carrier orblade roller. In this form of carrier I employ a pivoting portion 25,having a smooth bore 26, through which the pivot bearing link (see 10,cross section of Fig. 1) of the chain fits to form an axis for pivotingthe holders. Extending to one side of, and secured to the pivotingportion, is a rod 28, around which is the inner tube or sleeve 29. Thissleeve 29 is rigidly secured to the end 30 of the lower jaw 31 andpinned at 32 to the rod 28 in such manner as to admit of a slight swivelor rotary movement of the sleeve 29 and of the lower and upper jaws 31and 33, thereby providing a self-centering means for giving a. full andeven contact and pressure ofa blade held by the jaws of the carrier whenthe blade is pressed against the sharpening rolls. I preferably providefor this swivel action of the jaws by making the hole in the rod 28slightly larger than the pin passing through it, though it is apparentthat other suitable meansmight be employed. It will be noted that theupper jaw is hinged at 11 to the lower jaw. To provide for automaticallyopening and closing the jaws 31, 33, of the blade carriers, I. employ anear or boss 15 on the upper jaw and a spring 16 at the hinge joint 11 ofthe jaws, which spring is adapted to keep the upper jaw 33 normallyopen, and to cause the ear 15 on the upper jaw to press against theouter sleeve 9 of the holder. This outer sleeve 9 is cut at its largerend, or the end nearest the jaws, so as to form a cam 27, which camoperates against the car 15 on the upper jaw when the sleeve 9 isrotated to close the upper jaw 33 on the lower jaw 31 and grip a blade I"engaging while passing one of these trippers 35 in its course of travelalong the ways.

To oscillate the blade carriers, and to secure an easy yielding pressureof the blade on the sharpening rolls, the carrier is provided with aflat spring 8, upon the end of which is a roller 12, which rollertravels on the outer waved guide rails 7. The movement of this roller upand down so as to rock the holder on its pivot 10 is accomplished by thecarrier being moved along between the rails 7 and the roller 12following the curves or waves in the rails 7.

It will be seen that I provide a blade sharpening machine of very greatcapacity, and a machine which will give highly uniform results, due toits being a machine of continuous operation with uniform periods ofrinding, honing and finishing.

I n operation, the sharpening rolls, driven by the motor, are rotated inthe proper directions, the worm gear, also driven by'the motor, rotatesthe sprocket wheels and drives the chain of blade carriers along theways. A blade is placed in the jaws of a blade carrier. The closinglever of the blade carrier comes into engagement with the tripperlocated on the Ways at the feeding end of the machine, and the, jaws ofthe carrier are closed onv the blade, the blade carrier then moves alongthe sharpening rolls where it is swung by the waved rails on its pivotalaxis 10 and the blade pressed against first one and then the other ofthe sharpening rolls. The carrier, continuing, moves around the oppositesprocket and is again broughtv along the ways opposite the sharpeningrolls and again oscillated or swung into and out of contact with the shaening rolls. It then moves to where anot er tripper is located, when theopening lever engages the tripper and the jaws of the carrier are openedand the blade dischar ed. The carrier, continuing, moves aroun thesprocket, and the operation is repeated.

It will be seen that by making the sharpening rolls of suitable length,and by driving the chain and the rolls at a suitable speed, the lengthof contact of the blades on the sharpening rolls may be regulated togive extremely uniform results, inasmuch as every blade is treated likeevery other, thereerly sharpened.

It is also apparent that by providing a machine with a large number ofblade carriers and making the rolls of suitable length, a very greatcapacity may be obtained.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a blade sharpening machine, abrading rolls arranged with theiraxes substantially parallel, means for rotating said rolls, wayssubstantially parallel to the axes of the rolls,-an endless chain ofpivoted blade carriers, mechanism for driving the chain to move thecarriers along the ways, and means for swinging the carriers into andout of contact with the rolls.

2. In a machine for sharpening razor blades, spaced parallel abradingrolls, means for rotating said rolls, a blade carrier movable alongstraight runs parallel to the axes of the abrading rolls, jaws on saidcarrier adapted to hold blades and carry them in contact with theperiphery of the abrading rolls along a line substantially parallel tothe axes of the rolls, mechanism for automatically opening and closingthe jaws of the blade carrier, and mechanism moving the carrier so as topress a blade carried thereby against first one and then another of theabrading rolls.

3. In a razor blade sharpening machine, sharpening rolls arranged inpairs, a pair of sprockets, ways connecting the sprockets,

and an endless chain provided with blade carriers and arranged to movealong the ways and around the sprockets, the said chain being providedwith teeth engaging the ways for guiding the carriers therealong,

combined with means for driving the rolls ening rolls, ways, bladecarriers having means engaging the ways, the carriers being arranged atright angles to the longitudinal direction of the ways, and means formoving said carriers along the ways and for moving them in planes atright-angles to the longitudinal direction of the ways.

6. In a blade sharpening machine, oppositely disposed sharpening rollsand means for rotating same, channeled ways extending along a planemidway between the rolls, an by lessening. the. amount of inspection of.blades necessary to insure their being propand the ways to move andguide the carriers therealong, and guides substantially'parallel withthe ways and crossing the distal ends of the carriers for guiding thedistal ends and for imparting an oscillatory motion to the carrierswhile they are'being moved along the ways, whereby a blade placed intheblade gripping jaws of the carrier is brought into contact with firstone and then the other of the abrading rolls.

8. In a machine of the character described,

an endless chain of blade carriers, sharpenmg rolls of different degreesof abrading power along said endless chain of carriers,

and means for bringing the edge of a blade ing blade carriers joined oneto the other to form an endless chain and each carrier pivoted to swingin a plane at substantially a right angle to the direction of travel ofthe chain, means swinging the holders about their pivotal points andmeans driving the chain of blade carriers to pass the carriers along thesharpening rolls, ways for guiding the holders along a straight linesubstantially parallel to the axes of the rolls, jaws on said carriersfor gripping a blade, means for opening and closing the jaws, andtrippers located along the ways for engaging the opening and closingmeans of the jaws to automatically open and close same.

10. In a blade sharpening machine, oppositely disposed sharpening rollsand means for rotating same, an endless chain of blade carriers, saidcarriers being pivoted to swing in a plane at right angles to thedirection of movement of said chain, ways along which the chain ofcarriers travels, a sprocket for driving the chain along the ways,wave-like guides and an extension from the pivotal point of the carriershaving means engaging the waved guides for imparting an oscillatorymotion to the carriers when the chain is moved along the ways, topresent a blade wvhen held by 'a blade carrier against one and then theother of the sharpening rolls in alternation. x i

11. In a sharpening machine, sharpening rolls and means for rotatingsame, an endless chain of blade carriers having blade holding jaws, saidcarriers being pivoted be tween their ends to swing in a plane at rightangles to the direction of movement of said chain, Ways along which thechain of holders travels, sprockets for driving the chain along theWays, and waved rails crossing the ends of the holders opposite the jawsand causing the holders to oscillate on their pivots when they are movedalong the ways, for presenting a blade to the sharpening rolls, and aspring member between the pivot of the holder and the waved rails foreasing the pressure of a blade held by a holder against a sharpeningroll.

aaeaeea 12. In a sharpening machine, the combination with sharpeningrolls and means imparting motion thereto, of an endless chain of pivotedblade carriers, each carrier having a pair of blade gripping jaws, astem, a movable sleeve on said stem, the said sleeve being formed toengage one of said jaws whenthe sleeve is moved to close the jaw, waysalong which the chain of carriers travels, and trippers located alongthe ways co acting with means carried by the movable sleeve of thecarrier to move the sleeve on the stem to close the jaws of the carrier,and means for swinging the carriers to present blades held by them tothe sharpening rolls.

13. In a blade sharpening machine, the combination with sharpening rollsand means imparting motion thereto, of an endless chain of pivoted bladecarriers, each carrier having a pair of jaws, a spring for keeping a jawnormally open, a stem, a rotary sleeve on said stem, a cam on saidsleeve, a co-acting projection on one of said jaws, ways for guiding thechain of carriers, and trippers located along the ways engaging meanscarried by the rotary sleeve of the carrier for opening or closing thejaws of the carriers, and means swinging the carriers on their pivotswhile they are advanced along the ways.

14. In a machine of the character described, the combination withsharpening rolls and means for driving same, of an endless chain ofpivoted blade carriers and ways for guiding the carriers along thesharpening rolls, each of said blade carriers having a jaw member with astem, a swinging jaw memberhaving a projecting car, a rotary sleeve onsaid stem, a cam on one end'of said sleeve engaging the ear of theswinging jaw member and closing the jaw when the sleeve is rotated, andmeans along the ways for rotating the sleeve, and foi swinging thecarriers.

15. In a blade sharpening machine, the combination with sharpening rollsand means rotating same, of an endless chain of pivoted blade carriersand ways upon which the carriers travel, each of said carr erscomprising a pair of jaws, a stem, a rotary sleeve on said stem, a camon said sleeve, a co-acting ear on one of said jaws, and lever armscarried by the sleeve for rotating the sleeve to open and close thejaws, and trippers located on the ways for engaging the lever arms ofthe sleeve to rotate same, together with means for swinging thecarriers. I

l6. In a blade sharpening machine, the combination with sharpening rollsand means imparting motion thereto. of an endless chain of pivoted bladecarriers. ways along which the chain of carriers moves, sprockets fordriving the chain of carriers, blade gripping jaws on the carriers, :1projection on one of the jaws, a cam for engaging the projection, andmeans located on the ways for operating the cam to close the jaws. V

17. In a blade sharpening machine, the combination with sharpening rollsand means imparting motion thereto, of an end less chain of pivotedblade carriers, ways along which the chain of carriers moves, and meanscarried by the chain for engaging the ways to guide the carriers, asprocket for driving the chain of carriers along the ways, bladegripping jaws on the carriers, a projection on one of the jaws, a camfor engaglng the projection, and means located on the ways for operatingthe cam to close the jaws, a spring to hold the jaw normally open, and aflat spring extending from the pivotal point of each carrier andprovided with a roller on its distal end, and means engaging the rollerand imparting a swinging motion to the carrier while it is beingadvanced along the ways.

18. In a blade sharpening machine, rota table shar ening rolls, anendless chain of blade carriers, ways for guiding the carriers, saidcarriers comprising blade gripping jaws, a stem, a sleeve on said stem,a cam on the sleeve, a co-acting projection on one of the jaws, andlever arms carried by the sleeve, together with tripping dogs located onsaid ways for engaging said lever arms and rotatingthe sleeve and cam toclose'the jaws of the blade carriers, and a spring for keepin the jawsnormally open.

19. n a blade sharpening machine, the combination with sharpening rollsand means for rotating same, of an endless chain of blade carrierscomprising a tooth link and a pivot link pivotall joined to one anotherto form a chain, b ade gripping jaws having stems pivotally mounte onthe pivot link of said chain and having a flat sitely disposedsharpening rolls and means for rotating same, pivoted blade carriers,ways extendlng along a line symmetrical to the axes of each pair ofabrading rolls, the

said ways having channels or slots, teeth coacting with the channels ofthe ways to guide the carriers along the ways, a pivoting memberconnected to each of the teeth to form an endless chain and carrying theblade carriers, a sprocket for engaging the teeth of the chain to'movethe chain of carriers along the ways, and means for swinging thecarriers on their pivots while they are being advanced along the'ways.

21. In a blade sharpening machine, sharpening rolls and means forrotating same, an endless chain, blade carriers pivoted about the axisof said chain to swing in a plane at right angles to the longitudinaldirection of the chain, ways for guiding the chain, blade gripping awson said carriers, guides parallel with the ways and engaging thecarriers to swing them on their pivots, and a spring for easing thepressure of a blade held by a blade, carrier when swung into contactwith a sharpening roll.

In testimony whereof I have 'signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CARL 0. KING. Witnesses:

WILLIAM TARLIN, Gnoaen B. MURPHY.

